Rudder pedal installation



W. C. BOYCE RUDDER PEDAL INSTALLATlON Spt. 9, 1952 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fid Nov. l

Sept. 9, 1952 w. c. BQYCE RUDDER PEDAL INSTALLATION 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Y Filed Nov. 18, 1950 INVENToR. Mmway B Sept. 9, 1952 w. c. BOYCE RUDDER PEDAL INSTALLATION 5 Sheets-Sheet I5 Filed Nov. 18, 1950 www Q Sept. 9, 1952 w; C, BQYCE 2,610,006

RUDDER PEDAL. INSTALLATION Filed NOV. 18, 1950 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 IN VEN TOR. Wifi/mm@ @We Patented Sept. 9, 1.952

UNITED STATES N orties f RUBBER- PEDAL INSTALLAHQN William ooyoe, Dallas, Tex.,,assisirorrooniioo Aircraft 'fior-pimation;J Esjt- Hartford) oonii'-.,f a"- eorporaton of Delaware Application- November 18, 1950.0', Serialb. 100,413" i This invention relates to aircraft and particularly t'o devices foradjusting" the pedals of pedal actuated systems in aircraft such `as the r'u'dder andbr-ake systems.

Rudder and brake-systems in aircraft are normally controlled. by means of. pressure applied to pedals by the pilotis feet. These pedals have heretofore been soiat'tachedfto the aircraft-structure as to. make anyadjustrnent in their location by the pilot difiileul't. andfso as to make.` any material adj'ustn-ientlfin thei-r 10cation virtually irnpossible It is apparentthat a means of. eiecting` a` materialV adjustment i-n the 'location off the pedals in a4 simple and easy operation is highly 'desirable inorder to accommodate pilots having varying proportion in physical structurev and to iadl in retarding `or preventing muscular fatigue of the. pilots.

'-hisinvention comprises a novelsystem ofA slides,A links, spr-ings and other. mechanical` apparatus, providingm a. device foreasily and readily adjusting the location of the pedals ofV--pedalcontrolled systems.

7 claims.. tot zeik-s6) It c is an. object of` this-inventionto provide a means of adjusting the location-oil pedalsinpedal Controlled, ,Systems in. aircraft to accommodate pilots ofA different physical structureV and proportions. v

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1 Another olojectof` thislinventonis toprovide accompanying drawings which .illustrate an emhodiinent ofthe invention.

Briefly, thisvmechanism consists ofoa`-pair of pedals which is. conncectedu tothe rudder and brake systems of an. aircraft andfalso pivotalllyI connected to af` traversiiig` shaft rigidly secured to apair of slides which. ride on opposed'tracks. Manual release of a locking device causesi a spring,A Working through `a. pair .of Vpiimtally.- mounted. biased. sector. .WheelsA :and4 links, to smQOthly exertpressure on' thashaf-tp mfg-ingu it aft along the tracks. Iii the unlocked condition tho pooa'ls'aroiii'afioiitraiposiiioii;

of' trie' mechanism, the pilotyk may tfiie oodals tov desired position by" footv orsfsre on the podais arid iooir` the mechanism tofse'cure theY pe'daisi'ii the desired' position".Y

1 in trieao'oompariyine'drawings, a' o' View or tireA rudder-and brake pedal i j snowing' the pedal adjusting' rh'ejcn yi'iisrri and its general' location iii tii'eoookpit oran airplane; c Y

Fig. dista perspective view of trieoedal control installation and' adjusting" mechanism oir a larger scare; c Fig. 321s a pian vievv'on Fig. 4 'is pian View similar to" Fie. s snowing `Fig'. 5 is a sido elevational viewfaloii'gliiie in Fig. 4 of the `pedal control mech-'anisin '1n' the forward-position; and" fof the pedal control. mechanism in the ait pos'- tion'.

` Iniiig'. 1A of 'the' drawings the Iiirferal' m'indr oates an'. airplane Having a rudder' il' zicrg'ene inasmuch as the constructionJo-fthe two" pedals Referring now to Fig-"21. `the pedal control mechanism Il` consists of.'v a rudderpedlifi-ro'- tatably journalled onaxleii' whichistfrigidly secured to 'the lower extremities` of armsl'iland 2,0.. Arms I8 and 20, are pivotedLatltherupper portions. on pi'nsnZfZ-` andlill` respectively, .saidpins being .v insorieo through-u-biiiiroateo .brackets 2t `and 2gjwhicharerigid1y secured, for., example by welding, lto aslidablesuplziortingshaftA 300. order to permit foraand-af-t `adjustment of'the rudder pedals, slides 32f are firmly .andi rigidly secured to the shaft 3]3 at` each -of'.itsv..extreniitie's by ,bolts -3`3. '11he=.slides A`32"' are channellshaped partsdesigned tovtlsnugly on channeldtracks 34 which latter are rigidly secured ina-ny suitalole mannerA to fuselage frame: members-of-the aircraft.. Slides 3 i` are arrangedlon -At'raclgsl` in such amanner. as` to allow freeiforeiandaft Atravel thereofLalong-tracks-Sflf. i.

Referring to Fig. 3, which shows affplanmview of the adjusting mechanism of this invention,

there is attached to suitable aircraft structure, such as a bulkhead 36, a cast member 38. Member 36 is firmly and rigidly secured to structure 36 and has two bifurcated protrusions or arms 46 and 42 extending aft in a horizontal plane. Sector wheels 44 and 46 are positioned between the bifurcations of arms 40 and 42 respectively and are pivotally secured thereto by shafts 48 and 50.

The sectors of wheels 44 and 46 are placed in contiguous relationship. The sector wheel 44 has two peripheral grooves, an upper groove 52 and a lower groove 53, while sector wheel 46 has two similar peripheral grooves with groove 54 being the upper and groove 55 being the lower. The sector wheels 44 and 46 have coincident inverse movement by means of crossed cables 56 and 56 which run in the said peripheral grooves of sectors 44- and 46. One end of cable 56 is secured by means of a swaged ball terminal 56 which is Y tted Within ball socket 60 sunken in the periphery of sector wheel 46. Cable 56 runs part Way along groove 54 of sector 46 from ball and socket 59 and 60, then crosses and runs in groove 52 of sector 44 where it terminates in the swaged threaded terminal 6|. Terminal 6l extends through an aperture in a horizontally extended portion 62Vof wheel 44 and is there secured by nut 63. When nut 63 is tightened it tends to pull terminal 6| through the aperture of portion 62 thereby tending to draw cable 56 taut in the peripheral grooves 52 and 56. Cab-le 56 is secured in the same mannerV as cable 56 by a swaged ball terminal 64 fitting within ball socket 65 of wheel 44. Cable 58 runs part way along the groove 53 of sector 44 then crosses and runs in groove 55 of sector 66 and ends in a swaged threaded terminal 66 which latter extends through portion 67 of wheel 46 and is secured thereto by nut 68.

To connect with movable shaft 30 and to transmit motion thereto, sectors 44 and 46 have integral portions or rigidly secured arms 69 and '|0 respectively. To the extremities of these generally outwardly directed arms 69 and 10 are pivotally vsecured links 'l2 and '14 by pins 16 and 'i8 extending through bifurcated ears of links 12 and 14. The aft ends of these links are pivotally secured between bifurcated ears of brackets 80 andY 82k by pins 64 and 66, respectively. Brackets 86 and 82 are rigidly attached, as by welding, to the slidable shaft 30. Appropriate cooperative adjustment of nuts 63 and 68 on fittings'l and 66 respectively will provide forV exact arcuate positioning of arms 69 and l0.

v .The shaft 30 carrying pedals I4 is biased towards an aft position by tension spring 90. One end of spring 90 is secured toaircraft structure at point 92. The other end of spring 90 is fastened to a protruding bracket 94 which is rigidly secured to sector 44. 1t can thus be seen that motion in such a manner as to move arms 69 vand 10 simultaneously in an aft direction. As

arms 69 and 10 move aft, links 12 and 'I4 move aft and thereby cause shaft 30 secured to slides 32 to move aft on tracks 34.

By the wide spacing of links l2 and 'i4 which connect to slidable shaft 30 and by insuring simultaneous movement of arms 69 and 'I6 through the action of the crossed cables 56 and 55 on sectors 44 and 46, forward and aft movements of shaft 30 are smooth, and binding or bucking of the shaft 30 is eliminated because the slides 32 thereby tend to stay in exact parallel relationship to tracks 34.

VIt is to be understood that a lever or handle may be used in place of a knob as described in the instant example. Knob |00 is rigidly attached to one end of link |02 extending into the cockpit of the airplane. The other end of link |02 is pivotally attached to a bellcrank |611 by means of a pin |06 through a bifurcated portion of the bellcrank |04. Bellcrank |04 is pivoted on a shaft |06 secured to aircraft structure and a link H0 is pivotally attached at one end by a pin H2 through a bifurcated portion of bellcrank |04. Link H0 is pivotally secured at its opposite end to one end of a link H3 by a pin H4 extending through the apertures and bifurcated end of link H3. The other end of link H3 has a cylindrical recessv H5 in which one end of spring loaded plunger H6 is rigidly secured by a pin Hl. Plunger H6 moves through an aperture H6 in a bracket H9 which latter is rigidly secured to .bulkhead 36 and supports plunger H6. Aperture I8 has an enlarged portion |20 in which a flanged portion |2| of plunger H6 moves. A compression spring |22 is disposed in the enlarged portion |20 of aperture H8 through which plunger H6 extends and one end of the spring |22 is placed in contact with the flanged portion |2| of plunger |6 while the other end of spring |22 rests against the outboard shoulder of the enlarged portion |20 of aperture HB. Spring |22 is thereby kept in a state of compression, being fully compressed when the pedal adjustment knob |60 is pulled. Sector wheel 46 has an extended arcuate portion |23 opposite its grooved sector portion which has along its outer periphery a plurality of recesses or notches |24. Plunger H6 can engage any of the several notches |24 on sector wheel 46, thereby allowing any of several adjusting positions. The compression spring |22 continually exerts pressure on the flange |2| of plunger H6 thereby resisting disengagement of plunger H6 from a selected one of the plurality of notches |24. When the pilot pulls on knob |00 the plunger H6 is disengaged from one of the notches |24, for example, when in the position shown in Fig. 3, and the spring biases the entire assembly in an aft direction, thereby urging the assembly towards the position shown in Fig. 4. Y After the knob |00 is pulled, the pilot can, by exerting foot pressure on the pedals, move the pedals forward toa desired position. When the desired position ofthe pedals is reached, the pilot may there, by releasing the knob |00, cause the plungervHS to engage one of the notches |24 in the toothed portion |23 of sector 46 thus locking the pedals.

There are two set screws |25 and |26 engaged in threaded apertures in ears |21 and |28 which extend up vertically from sector wheel 46 as shown in Fig. 2. These set screws are brought up against the upper part of bifurcated arm 42 of bracket 38 when sector wheel 46 is rotated to the extreme right or left. These two set screws can be adjusted to predetermine the actual angular rotational displacement of the sector wheels 44 and 46. I

Referring now'to Figs. 5 and 6, pedal |4can be rotated about the axis of axle |6 to move an arm 29 in the conventional manner. Arm |29 is connected at an aperture |30 to the brake mechanism of the aircraft which consists of pressure cylinders, pressure transmitting lines', and other apparatus and which mechanism, also being conventional, is not shown. Arm |29 is connected to the brake mechanism of the aircraft annabee AVJiriwrcler-1tliatrtliewheel bralizescanf-be actuated "by frotationlloffpedal I4 Aaboutthe axis-ofiaiile "If -iThefbrakingrmeehanismi-niay bei-attached by l'pivota-ble 1 linksg'pr Jllexi-ble hydraulic ulines-*so :as 'to `leave able.

`Whenit isrdesiredvto -moveth'erudder surface ofthe aircraft, Lthe v@pi-lot rotates-pedal"m I4 about pivots 22 and 24, thereby affecting movements fin the rudder`|| 'jthroughja conventionall-cable arrangement, `I31 suchas ishown in Fig; 11` "I8 'has A' a `forwardly Yextending #portion -I 38 to wliichalink*4 |140isiconnected-bymeanseof a "pin "|424 extending through :the "bifurcated" endf-of ,portion |38 ofe'arm I8. ""Ilreptherrend -of link |40 isV connected toa `bellcranke'|44 byfmeans Mcfa pin |46 )extending-through arbifurcated fpor- "tion of V"b 'ellerankd |44; L Bellcrank I 44 fpi'vots *atm-ipa snaai) aa-rigdiyattaridtofthefaireraft structure." l "Lbifurcatedfportion-*of bellcrankl' isconnectedby a* 'pin 1I 50 *to the 4remainder `"of the above-mentionedrudder controlfrmechanism |31. The meansofttransmitting rudder pedal forces to the rudderfrompoint |50 can be of any suitableconventional'designfsince said remaining rudder control mechanism |31 constitute part of this invention. l l

The positionrjofcrudder AI I is easily -controlled by forward pressure on the appropriate pedal. VThis causesarm |38 to rotateabout the; pins;22 'and 24" exerting apull'on link"|40 whichis'` relayed to bellcrank"IM-,atlfpoint |46 as shown in Fig. 6` .1.-Such a pull atmoint |46 causes bellcrank' |44 to pivot nj-.alclokwise direction at point I48 thereby"causing point |50 to which the rudder mechanism is attached to travel forward in an arc about point I48. This forward motion of point |50, when transmitted through a conventional rudder control mechanism |31, moves the rudder as desired and when relayed back through the bellcrank |44 mechanism of the other pedal, causes it to assume a correspondingly opposite position in regard to the pedal to which pressure was applied.

As the pedals and shaft 30 are moved forward or aft, the links |40 connecting with the rudder mechanism |31, being free to rotate at points |42 and |46, move in an arc about points |46 thereby maintaining the movability of said pedals and shaft longitudinally.

It can be noted in Figs. 5 and 6 that the actual pedal position with respect to a vertical reference line varies only a negligible amount so that the feel of the pedals to the pilot after longitudinal adjustment remains virtually the same.

It will be seen that this invention provides a simple mechanism whereby pedal controls may be moved through a wide range of longitudinal positions and can be locked or xed in any of several predetermined positions. As a result of this invention, pilots may now adjust the location of the pedal controls of their aircraft in a quick, simple, and easy operation even while in ight. This enables the pilot to relieve muscular fatigue of his legs and provides a suitable ldistance to the pedals for pilots of any physical proportions.

While only one embodiment of the invention has been shown in the accompanying drawings,

it will be evident that various modifications are possible in the arrangement and construction of the adjustable pedal control mechanism components without departing from the scope of the invention.

does .not

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` rudder 1Apedal "adjustmentmec-hanism comprising jinents, one of said' lsector wheelshaving a portion thereof 'Having reeessesitherein.: meansgfprtwck- `ingfs'aid :sector wheelsin` preselected positions icldingrlunger `means for engaging saidigrecesses, i and manually operable means `for' disensagingsaid ilunger` fromjsaidjrecsss whereby i said"'shaf`t may bei, moved along said Ytracks .n

"`2."In' an airplane having afrudderpawrudder ,control system. comprising, parallel, `sp`ace`il apart `tracks mountedon .a Ista'tionaiyllpart ofy saidairplane, a shaftmounted ,transversely betweensaild ,tracks ,and having :its ends supported',thereloyjy for jfo'reand aft, sliding. lmovement thlereoninlfSaiid airplane. l rudderY pedals. Suspended. from andimft'atable infrelation tolsaid `Shaft`,said A,rudder pecan being connected to said' airplane rudder,

a pair of spring-biased sector wheels mounted on xed structure of said airplane adjacent said shaft, means for connecting said sector wheels for rotation in counter-directions, means effecting connection between said sector wheels and said shaft to impart movement to the latter when said sector wheels are rotated under tension of said spring biasing means of said sector wheels, means for locking said sector wheels against rotation and means for actuating said latter means.

3. In a rudder control system for aircraft, a pair of opposed tracks, a shaft extending between said tracks and having its ends slidably connected thereto, rudder pedals pivoted to and depending from said shaft, a pair of sector Wheels Vmounted on fixed structure of said airplane each having an arm extending at right angles to its rotating axis, means movably connecting the ends of said arms to said shaft at spaced apart points thereon, means joining said sector wheels for simultaneous rotation in counter-directions to effect movement of said shaft through said arms and connecting means, spring means exerting a force tending to rotate said sector wheels to move said shaft in one direction, means for locking said sector wheels against rotation and means for actuating said locking means to release said sector wheels whereby the position of said shaft and said rudder pedals may be changed.

4. In an aircraft having a rudder, a rudder control system comprising, an elongated supporting member slidably mounted on fixed structure in said aircraft for movement substantially parallel to the fore and aft axis of said aircraft, said member being disposed substantially perpendicular to said axis; rudder pedals pivotally secured to said supporting member; means for moving said supporting member parallel to said axis comprising a pair of spring-biased sector wheels -lriounted on xed structure of said airplane inter-connected for inverse, simultaneous, rotary motion,rcon.necting means between said sector wheels and said supporting member, one of` said vsector wheels having a portion thereof provided with'a plurality of recesses; and manually operable means adapted to engage selectively in fsaid recesses to lock said wheels against rotatached at each of its .extremities to one of said vslides thereby'allowing movement of the shaft upon said tracks in a parallel direction withY said `ltracks, a pair of pedals pivotally suspended from lsaid'shaft, means for connecting said pedals with said airplane control surfaces, a pair of sector wheels rotatably mounted to xed structure of 'said aircraft, means for operatively connecting t Y said wheels with said shaft, means for connect- Aing the said sector Wheels to each other to provide simultaneous inverse rotational motion between said wheels, means for rotatably biasingl the said wheels, means for locking the said wheels in Aa selected position, and means for actuating said locking means.

V6. In anairplane havingV a rudder, a rudder pedal adjustment mechanism comprising tracks xedly attached'to xed structure of said airplane, a shaft mounted on said tracks for sliding `movement in relation thereto, pedals suspended from said shaft for swinging movement, an operative connection between said pedals and said `locking means.V

structure of said airplane, connecting means between said sector wheels for providing simultaneous inverse movement to saidvwheels, connecting means between said sector wheels and said shaft whereby said shaft is moved along said tracks uponrotation of said sector wheels and means for imparting rotation to said sector wheels. Y

'7. In apparatus of the character described, a spaced pair of tracks mounted on fixed structure, a shaft transversing said tracks and slidably mountedY thereon, a pair of inter-connected sector wheels mounted on fixed structure, biasing means for biasing said Wheels rotatably, connecting means between said sector Wheels and said shaft whereby rotational biasing of said wheels imparts linear motion to said shaft parallelv with said tracks, means for locking and unlocking said sector wheels in selected positions, and means for actuating said locking and un- WILLIAM C. BOYCE.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Y Date 2,424,523 Watter July 22, 1947 rFOREIGN PATENTS t Number Country Date V255,619. Great Britain July 29, 1926 

